The Sidmouth Bowls Club outdoor season is now in full swing and the weather is just beautiful, writes Carol Smith.

On Saturday the West Midlands Police touring team arrived with nine mixed rinks.

Up until a day or so before, we didn’t know if we would be able to accommodate them as our bottom green, after the very wet winter, was rather soggy.

However, a combination of some lovely sunshine and the endeavours of the magnificent Barry, our greenkeeper, meant that all was set for play and, although the rink was a little on the heavy side, it did play very well! The Police team won overall with a score of 179 shots to 145 and, as their captain said: “We nicked it!”

As for the home bowlers, the top rink was the one of Jean Brimson, Bob Underhill, Elaine Reed and skip David Fairclough, who won with a great score of 25 shots to 13.

Sunday saw a visit from another touring side, Panthers, who are made of bowlers from clubs in Somerset.

It is fair to say that nothing beats the position of Sidmouth Bowls Club outdoors on a sunny day with all the bowlers in their whites and lots of seats around for people to sit and watch the action unfold. Clearly, on such a beautiful day as Sunday was, the players and non-playing folk thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon’s entertainment!

Indeed, so much did the Panthers enjoy the surroundings that they also won the match, enjoying success on four of the six rinks with the overall final score being one of four shots in their favour.

The best of the home rinks was the one of Janet Smith, Jim Brown, Janet Thomson and skip Brian Smith, with a great score of 35-12.

After a good session in the bar, the tourists went off to their hotel very happy.